Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do
– Steve Jobs
Anonymous
November 27, 2011 | 10:17 pm
Except Jobs also believed that "alternative" medicine would be a better treatment for his cancer than actual medicine; best not to go overboard with praise for "crazy ones"!
Paddy Briggs
February 20, 2012 | 11:11 am
Rewards systems in big corporations are geared to reward not the crazies but the conformists. A forgotten side-effect of the creation of unbelievable compensation systems for senior executives – CEO’s being paid 200 times (or more) than average pay – is that the incentive to keep your nose clean is enormous. In Shell I saw people who I knew to be able, principled and creative at 25 turn into unprincipled despots at 45 just to give them a chance to get onto the thickest of thick gravy trains at the top. One or two succeeded! The biggest accolade you could be given was that of being a “safe pair of hands” which if it was combined with hard work and a modicum of ability could lead to untold riches. I once heard a senior exec talking about a very able colleague of mine as follows “He’s very bright of course but he really does need to get in line with the team a bit more – much too disruptive at present”. “Disruptive” was code for “Disagrees with me”.